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| Q: | I have not read Luther's translation of the Bible myself (I don't know German) but apparently he changed the words in Leviticus 18:22 to state that a man should not lie with a young boy as he lies with a woman, rather than that he should not lie with a man as he lies with a woman (i.e. law prohibiting pedophilia vs law prohibiting sodomy). Is this a simple language thing where the words could be taken either way or did Luther have another agenda? I heard from someone that the reason he did this was because it was common in Germany at the time for men to carry on such deplorable activity with young boys (as in Rome before) and Luther wished to fight the problem. If this is the case, while admiring his fight, I would ask if he believed it okay to take literary license to make a point that he saw as correct? | ||||||
| A: | The Hebrew word in question is the word for a "male" person and does not in itself point to a young male (youth, lad, boy) any more than it specifies an adult or aging male. This is also reflected in all major ancient versions, so there appears to be no textual or vocabulary question at all. The prohibition being given, then, deals with sodomy in general, regardless of the age of the participants. You are correct in saying that Luther, in Leviticus 18:22 (and also, by the way, in Leviticus 20:13), translated the word as "boy, youth." I have not been able to find an authoritative explanation as to why he did so in these places. To say that he might have been addressing the sin of pederasty or pedophilia is a possibility, since that form of sodomy has probably been the most preferred or prevalent manifestation of sodomy (at least until the more recent rise of public, brazen liaisons between adults). Luther did often make a conscious effort to "make Moses speak German," so to speak, and to have his translation address the people of his native land and communicate to them where they were at. Perhaps that led him to use a more specific word in the translation than is given in the original. But this is only an guess. The more important issue, of course, is whether Luther thought this was a translator's prerogative in general, or if he felt that it was suitable to plug in words with different meanings (even if the change is only a comparatively slight one). To gain Luther's own perspective on translation I would point you to his treatises on translation in Volume 35 of his works (American Edition) pages 175ff. and 203ff. It may also safely be said that linguists have long acknowledged Luther's German Bible as a reliable, faithful translation that has stood the test of time and is known for communicating the Hebrew and Greek texts rather than attempting to alter them. | ||||||
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